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This innovative version of the Nativity story is making the rounds on Facebook. It made me smile at first, then I thought, is it trivializing Christmas? No, I think it shows how Jesus is present in every new communication technology ... and we can celebrate his presence on and via the web together.

This digital re-relling of the Christmas story transcends every notion of mediated communication. The video also gives us an opportunity to make media the subject of catechesis while it is an instrument of catechesis at the same time.

The story goes like this. Asia Bibi is a Catholic woman living in a small village near Lahore, Pakistan. She works as a farmhand, is married and the mother of five children. Earlier this year, a dispute erupted with other farmhands when she refused to convert from Christianity to Islam. Some stories say that she made a remark like this one: “Jesus Christ died for my sins; what did Mohammed ever do for you?”

Deadline for resolution between Diocese of Phoenix and Catholic Healthcare West extended to Tuesday, Dec. 21

PHOENIX (Dec. 17, 2010) — The Diocese of Phoenix has been in continuing conversation with Catholic Healthcare West about their Catholic identity and adherence to the teachings of the Church regarding their facilities within the Diocese of Phoenix. Late on Thursday, Dec. 16, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted was in receipt of further communication from Catholic Healthcare West officials. Given the ongoing communication and attempts to rectify the situation, Bishop Olmsted is extending his deadline until Tuesday, Dec. 21.

tA blistering Vatican statement today accuses China of “unacceptable and hostile acts” during a recent government-orchestrated assembly of Chinese Catholics, which it said smacked of “fear and weakness," a "repressive attitude” and “intransigent intolerance,” producing a “grave loss of trust.”

tNot only is it unusual for the Vatican to target a specific country in such public fashion, but today’s statement also ruptures the quiet diplomacy that has characterized the Vatican’s “China policy” since the papacy of Paul VI.

tMost observers say the current row marks the most serious crisis in Sino-Vatican relations in recent memory, with one prominent Catholic expert on China gloomily claiming that things are headed “back to the time of Mao.”

tThough there are no reliable religious statistics in China, conventional estimate peg the country’s Catholic population at around 13 million. China has long been a top diplomatic priority of the Vatican, not only because of its status as an emerging global superpower, but because China experts believe there’s significant potential for missionary expansion if the climate for religious freedom were to improve.

Mike Clancy, a reporter for The Arizona Republic in Phoenix, broke the story yesterday. He subsequently agreed to write a story for us. We didn't rush to post the story, because we wanted to see if we could get deeper into the story after the initial flurry that inevitably follows the breaking of a story like this.

Four acrobats took their circus act to the Vatican yesterday, performing for Pope Benedict during his weekly general audience. The men took off their shirts as they came on stage to begin their show, which lasted a few minutes. They lifted each other in acrobatic poses, keeping balance with their bodies supported only by their arms, at one point creating a human tower. The pope looked on, and at the end of the performance he clapped and briefly got up as he greeted them. The group is called the Pellegrini Brothers and were invited as part of a convention on circuses organized by the Vatican's office for migrants.